This invention relates generally to devices for shifting a magnetic tape wound around an open-type reel to another.
In various magnetic recording and/or reproducing devices, such as a tape recorder, the magnetic recording tape wound around a payoff reel is reeled around a takeup reel after scanned by a magnetic head or heads. However, in conventional devices of this sort, only a single payoff reel and a single takeup reel can be mounted. Namely, conventional tape operating devices comprise only two reel mounts for a payoff reel and for a takeup reel. Therefore, when intended to change the magnetic tapes from one to another, at least one of the reels has to be detached before another reel with a magnetic tape is mounted. Especially, when producing a number of magnetic tapes by copying from an original or master tape, the work of exchanging tape reels is time consuming, and it has been desired to reduce the time for exchanging the reels. Furthermore, when reproducing a piece of music or speech of relatively long duration, having been recorded on a plurality of magnetic tapes mounted on separate reels, the music or speech had to be interrupted for a relatively long period of time with conventional tape recorders, because it takes a given period time for exchanging the reels.